Opponent of Judge Steven Servaas calls move into district a 'sham'

ROCKFORD -- By moving back into a residence within his judicial district, Rockford District Judge Steven Servaas validated the state Judicial Tenure Commission's claims that he earlier had vacated his seat, the group's executive director contends.

Paul Fischer, who seeks to suspend and permanently remove Servaas from the bench he has held for 35 years, wrote in documents filed Wednesday that the judge's actions are "too little and too late."

Servaas moved into a leased home on Shaner Avenue NE on Feb. 22, days after the state filed a complaint to oust him because he was living in an Ada Township home outside his district.

"He has scrambled to relocate back to the area," Fischer wrote. "These actions are merely a sham comprising a pathetic attempt to rectify a long-standing wrong and serve only to substantiate the allegations.

"They serve to highlight the inherent fraud he has engaged in."

Neither Servaas nor his attorney, James Brady, had seen Fischer's response to documents they filed last week defending the judge. Servaas and Brady said they could not comment without seeing the records.

"(Mr. Fischer) wasn't as gracious to send it to us as he was to the media," Brady said.

The tenure commission is trying to remove Servaas for the alleged residence violation, remarks to a female court employee that could be construed as sexual harassment and his admission of drawing breasts in a note. He has denied doodling a penis on a court file as Fischer contends.

On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court appointed a retired Berrien County judge to preside over hearings between Servaas and the commission. Casper Grathwohl will conduct arguments before March 31 at an undetermined time and location.

If found guilty of the accusations, Servaas could face sanctions ranging from a censure to removal from the bench.

Servaas has maintained he has not violated any state requirements and that Fischer has set a target on him.

"The commission wants Judge Servaas off the bench and is desperately searching for a reason to justify his removal," Brady wrote in a brief filed last week.

Servaas never hid that he lived on Honey Creek Avenue and had filed a principal residence tax exemption on the property. He also was listed in the phone book, Brady wrote.

"In any event, living outside an election division is not judicial misconduct, is not grounds for discipline and certainly is not grounds for removal from the bench," his attorney wrote.